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January 12, 2015

Bolognese Sauce

A rich Italian meat sauce recipe made with beef and pork with layers of flavor perfect over pasta or in lasagna.

I need y’all to listen to me for a minute. Like, I need you to hear me and believe it in your bones when I tell you this. This sauce is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever cooked in my whole life.

Ever.

And you can put that on page one. And take it to church.

I knew what Bolognese sauce was. Well, I thought I knew what it was. I thought it was just like regular ol’ spaghetti sauce but with more meat.

I was so wrong.

It is so much more than that.

This sauce is more about the meat and layering of flavors and less about the tomatoes. The tomatoes are really insignificant in this sauce. You cook this for hours uncovered so that the sauce reduces and the flavors really intensify.

I did a ton of research before I hashed out my recipe. I had no idea Bolognese had milk in it. Or white wine.

I found recipes that used both red and white wines but the more reading I did, the more sure I became that white wine is not only more authentic but actually tastes better because the brightness of it works beautifully with the rich meat.

I did some comparison research online but most of the information I based my recipe on came from one of my favorite cookbooks of all time, The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia.

I’ve had this book for about 15 years and I go to it time and time again. It’s chocked full of facts about authentic Italian cuisine and traditional recipes.

I can’t tell you how many times I've curled up on the couch with this book and a cup of coffee or a glass of wine!

Bolognese Sauce

Yield: 10-12 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

prep time: 5 Mcook time: 3 H & 45 Mtotal time: 3 H & 50 M

A rich Italian meat sauce recipe made with beef and pork with layers of flavor perfect over pasta or in lasagna.

ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

Salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups grated carrot (see notes)

1 1/2 cups finely diced celery

1 1/2 cups finely diced onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 cups whole milk

Pinch of nutmeg

1 1/4 cups dry white wine

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

instructions:

How to cook Bolognese Sauce

Season ground beef and ground pork with salt and pepper to taste then brown in a Dutch oven or stock pot until cooked through. Drain fat from meat then set meat aside.

To the same (now empty) pot add butter, carrots, celery and onion and sauté over medium heat until onions are semi-translucent (about 5 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste and minced garlic then continue cooking for 2 minutes.

Add cooked ground meat to pot with veggies and mix well. Stir in milk and nutmeg. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat for one hour or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir occasionally and adjust heat such that you maintain a very gentle simmer during this time.

Cover the sauce and remove from heat before cooking your pasta to let the sauce rest a bit before serving.

NOTES:

Bolognese is traditionally served with pasta strands (tagliatelle, spaghetti, etc.) or rigid tube pasta (rigatoni, penne, etc.) but any pasta will work! I find that I want more sauce than I usually have when eating traditional spaghetti sauce (because it’s SO flipping good, y’all).
I use a box grater to shred my carrots instead of trying to finely dice them because it’s so much easier but feel free to finely dice yours.
You can’t use a cast iron pot or skillet (enamel covered cast iron is fine) with recipes that include wine (or vinegar or lots of tomato sauce or anything else highly acidic) as the acid will react unfavorably with the cast iron.
[UPDATE] Within 24 hours of publishing this recipe I've received several comments and emails asking what to substitute for the wine so I thought I better add this note. It is my opinion that there isn't a substitute for the wine in this recipe. I think it's just too important as it brightens the flavor and balances the richness from the butter, milk and meat. You can certainly leave it out if you like but I do not think the sauce will taste as good. Chicken broth would not be a good substitute as the only thing it has in common with wine is that it's wet.

We don't drink in our household so to buy a bottle of wine just to use in this sauce would be a waste. Do they have "mini" bottles? That would have an about the amount I would need for the sauce so there wouldn't be waste.

If it is the alcohol you are worried about, be assured by cooking it to a boil the alcohol evaporates out. I also am not a drinker, haven't touched the stuff in over 30 years. I cook with wine all the time and never had it affect me in anyway.

This recipe sounds (and looks) soooo good, with one exception - and it's just a personal thing with no criticism intended: This is probably a "sacrilege" to anyone who enjoys cooking with (or drinking) wine, but I really dislike the taste of wine and it has been my experience in tasting something with wine in it, that is the overpowering taste that jumps out on my taste buds and thereby ruins the dish for me. Is there anything that can be substituted that will not ruin the authenticity of your recipe? If not, can you explain what kind of wine one looks for, i.e., a table wine or cooking wine, for example and what brand constitutes a "dry" white wine? I'm willing to give it a try if it is deemed a "must" for this recipe to be a success. You can tell my level of expertise on wine is sub zero! My apologies to the good cooks out there for my ignorance.

You can never go wrong with a chardonnay when it comes to cooking. And you don't want to cook with anything that isn't good enough to drink (not to say you need to spend $20 - if you're buying it only to cook with I wouldn't spend more than $10). The wine cooks over two hours in the recipe so I promise it won't be overpowering :)

Like "Anonymous," I am not a wine-drinker and hate the taste of it in food. (Unsophisticated? Yep, that's me.) This sounded so good, though...had to try it. I substituted beef broth & it was DELICIOUS. Mandy, love your site...keep up the great work!

I made this last night and it is fantastic! Mandy thank you for doing all the "tweaking" on your recipes, it is so nice to just chop, measure and simmer and not have to think about doing my own "tweaking". I added a parmesan rind to the final simmer because I had one on hand, and swapped the ground pork for Mild Italian sausage because I couldn't fine ground pork.

I am making this as I write. Did anyone run into a problem of the milk curdling? after most of it evaporated i added the tomatoes and I added red wine since I had that on hand. As soon as I added it, the small out of milk leftover looked like it curdled some. I'm not using a cast iron pot. Is this supposed to happen?

It didn't happen to me but one of the articles I read when researching this had a note about. That it's OK if it happens and to just keep stirring. That the sauce will come back together. I'll see if I can find it!

Love Bolognese but prefer a "hardier" pasta, my favorite is potato gnocchi. Much of the time wine is added to recipes so that alcohol soluble flavors are highlighted, and much of the alcohol is cooked out of the sauce, especially with a 2+ hours cooking time.

Do you think for the simmering part a slow cooker uncovered would work? My range doesn't have a setting low enough not to scorch. I have everything but the wine and will pick that up tomorrow and cook this ASAP.

This recipe really turned out tasty. I made a few change ups based on my experience with other recipes. I started with bacon lardons, browned them and removed. Added the vegetables and then basically followed your ingredients and process. I added the bacon bits back in before simmering for the 2 1/2 hrs. Drove my wife and I crazy with the aroma! Very good!

This recipe looks fabulous! I can’t wait to make it but I wanted to ask you about the white wine, I don’t drink wine but I want to buy some for this recipe, what white wine should I get? Do I buy cooking wine or regular white wine?

Hi there! While I'm not able to respond to every comment, I try hard to answer any questions that haven't been addressed in the post, recipe or in other comments. And though I may not respond to them all, I do read each and every comment and I LOVE to hear from you guys! Thanks, y'all! - Mandy